Winery & Vintage Info
Over 180 years ago, Johann Christian Henschke came from Silesia to settle and build his farm in the Eden Valley region. By the time third-generation Paul Alfred Henschke took over the reins in 1914, the now famed Hill of Grace vines were more than 50 years old. The original vines, known as the ‘Grandfathers’, were planted around 1860 by an ancestor, Nicolaus Stanitzki, in rich alluvial soil in a shallow fertile valley just north-west of the Henschke family winery. The red-brown earth grading to deep silty loam has excellent moisture-holding capacity for these dry-grown vines, that sit at an altitude of 400m, with an average rainfall of 520mm. Hill of Grace is a unique, delineated, historic single vineyard that lies opposite a beautiful old Lutheran church, which is named after a region in Silesia known as Gnadenberg, translating to ‘Hill of Grace’. Cyril Henschke made the first single-vineyard shiraz wine from this vineyard in 1958 from handpicked grapes vinified in traditional open-top fermenters. The original Ancestors (vines over 125 years) are now approximately 160 years old and remain the heart of the Hill of Grace wine, along with a small selection of Centenarians (vines over 100 years), Survivors (vines over 70 years), and Old Vines (vines over 35 years), all planted on their own roots.
A mild and dry winter, followed by a dry and windy spring, saw frost events in September and November that disrupted bud-burst and young shoot growth. A hailstorm in late November impacted the fresh young shoots carrying the crop, with shiraz the most affected. Warmer than average temperatures in January and February, including the hottest summer’s day on record, led to the advancement of maturity and early onset of vintage. Warm weather in late summer maintained low disease pressure and small berry size, providing optimal ripening conditions. Despite minuscule yields, 2019 was a high-quality vintage with beautiful expressions of varietal character, good structure and excellent flavour intensity. The 2019 vintage will be remembered as a challenging season where regenerative viticulture and organic and biodynamic practices were vital to nurturing the health of the Henschke vineyards through an exceptionally warm and dry year.
